The American Musical and the Formation of National Identity / / Raymond Knapp.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Knapp, Raymond,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2018]; ©2004
• Year of Publication: 2018
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource
• Other title: Frontmatter --; CONTENTS --; List of Figures --; Explanatory Note about Audio Examples --; Preface --; Part One. INTRODUCTIONS --; 1. Contexts and Strategies --; 2. Nineteenth-Century European Roots: Models and Topics --; 3. Early American Developments: Minstrelsy, Extravaganza, Pantomime, Burlesque, Vaudeville --; 4. American Song through Tin Pan Alley --; Part Two. DEFINING AMERICA --; 5. Whose (Who's) America? --; 6. American Mythologies --; 7. Counter-mythologies --; Part Three. MANAGING AMERICA'S OTHERS --; 8. Race and Ethnicity --; 9. Dealing with the Second World War --; 10. Exoticism --; 11. Afterword: Other Directions, Other Identities --; Appendix A. Art and Commerce: The Business of Making Musicals --; Appendix B. Additional Resources --; Notes --; Bibliography --; Index
• Format: Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
• ISBN: 9780691186207; 9783110442502
• DOI: 10.1515/9780691186207?locatt=mode:legacy
• Access: restricted access
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: Raymond Knapp.

The American musical has achieved and maintained relevance to more people in America than any other performance-based art. This thoughtful history of the genre, intended for readers of all stripes, offers probing discussions of how American musicals, especially through their musical numbers, advance themes related to American national identity. Written by a musicologist and supported by a wealth of illustrative audio examples (on the book's website), the book examines key historical antecedents to the musical, including the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, nineteenth and early twentieth-century American burlesque and vaudeville, Tin Pan Alley, and other song types. It then proceeds thematically, focusing primarily on fifteen mainstream shows from the twentieth century, with discussions of such notable productions as Show Boat (1927), Porgy and Bess (1935), Oklahoma! (1943), West Side Story (1957), Hair (1967), Pacific Overtures (1976), and Assassins (1991). The shows are grouped according to their treatment of themes that include defining America, mythologies, counter-mythologies, race and ethnicity, dealing with World War II, and exoticism. Each chapter concludes with a brief consideration of available scholarship on related subjects; an extensive appendix provides information on each show discussed, including plot summaries and song lists, and a listing of important films, videos, audio recordings, published scores, and libretti associated with each musical.